Crowdsourcing supports innovation

3 min readMar 6, 2018

March 6th, 2018

Can crowdsourcing and collaboration offer new solutions where older, traditional ways of doing business have failed to deliver? The answer is a resounding ‘yes’. Digital technology has developed and so has the number of tools that can be used for collaboration and business development.

Encouragingly, this growth has been carried over to organizations with social goals. A recent study by the innovation charity Nesta has identified nearly 1,000 organizations (and nearly 700 collaborative projects) working in the field of digital social innovation across Europe. And it is likely that the real figures are significantly higher, as many grassroots innovators are yet to find their way onto the database. The speed of these developments would have been unimaginable only a few years ago.

Why crowdsourcing?

Crowdsourcing conferences that bring together developers, entrepreneurs, investors and policymakers are fast emerging. Crowdsourcing Week (CSW), a Singapore/New York-based operation, is the world’s largest platform for the global crowdsourcing community. Its mission is to develop the technical know-how of the new crowd economy — that includes crowdfunding, collaborative consumption, sharing economy and open innovation- to be accessible to all — corporates, governments, non-profits and entrepreneurs.

Crowdsourcing Week provides compelling examples of how global problems can be addressed with local solutions, or ‘glocalism’. The application of this logic to other international challenges — such as climate change, conflicts, social integration, economic inequality, health problems or disease epidemics — with the right partnerships, cities and neighborhoods can provide alternatives to the traditional channels of global governance.

Crowdsourcing week Arctic Circle — Luleå — Vuollerim — Austin — Malmö….

This March, Crowdsourcing Week will travel to the Arctic Circle. During a four-day summit in Luleå and Vuollerim, the workshops, talks and case studies will focus on using innovation for the common good. The program marks a bold new step for the network economy, where local and global neighborhoods collaborate to create jobs and new opportunities.

The ability of cities and smaller municipalities to shape national strategies should not be underestimated. Both Luleå (the capital of Norrbotten County) and Vuollerim (a small village in Jokkmokk Municipality) have been recognized as leaders on a national level.

Luleå’s economy used to be rooted in iron and steel. Now it’s the home to a cluster of world-leading, climate-neutral data centers used by tech giants including Facebook. Greenpeace publicly welcomed Facebook’s investment there because of the Swedish operation’s continued use of renewable energy.

New technologies and business development

Luleå has entered a new economic era. Hydropower is a significant resource, and even the city’s traditionally ‘dirty’ industries are cleaning up. Steel facilities now contribute their surplus energy to the district heating system, keeping neighborhoods warm at prices lower than those found anywhere else in the country. These developments are accompanied by Luleå’s vibrant music scene (a viable selling point for the city) which sees concerts held in igloos and musical instruments made of ice.
Austin is the twin city for Luleå. Both cities are vibrant ICT hubs.

Vuollerim — 800 inhabitants — 40 NGO:s and 60 SME:s…
Vuollerim- the Swedish hinterland’s best-kept secret- is 90 minutes north-west of Luleå. It isn’t only the famous Northern Lights that have lit up this remote community’s development (and enticed Crowdsourcing Week to host the final day of its summit here). In fact, news of this tiny village’s achievements have reached business developers, universities and investors the world over. The innovations that have emerged (and the businesses that have chosen to set up here) show the brave new world in which we now live — one where the Internet of Things touches rural of areas.
Vuollerim, has 800 inhabitants, 40 non-profit organizations and 60 companies can inspire today’s decision-maker anywhere in the globe. The summit offers the chance to explore the toolbox of collaboration and the ways in which cities and rural areas are embracing new technologies.

Crowdsourcing supports innovation

Written by Kaj Embren